Thurston County, WA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

Rather than operate curbside recycling trucks itself, Thurston County uses the private hauling companies already certificated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) to run the residential recycling collection program described in Chapter 8.24. Section 8.24.040 names the county's statutory basis: RCW 36.58.040, which lets a county elect to have certificated haulers implement its recycling program, and the county formally requested the WUTC carry out the program for a five-year period, the term allowed under RCW 81.77.150. Collection rates charged to residents are the WUTC-authorized rates set under RCW 81.77.030 and RCW 81.77.160, not county-set fees.

The ordinance names the certificated haulers by company and WUTC certificate number: Pacific Disposal (Certificate G-97), Eastern Grays Harbor Disposal (Certificate G-24), Joe's Refuse (Certificate G-98), Rural Refuse (Certificate G-98), and Butler's Cove Refuse (Certificate G-98). Because the program runs through these state-regulated certificate holders rather than a county contract, residents in a given unincorporated area are served by whichever certificated hauler holds the route for that area, and complaints about missed pickups or service levels ultimately route through the WUTC's regulation of those certificates alongside the minimum service levels the county sets in Exhibit A to Section 8.24.020. The five-year request structure means the assignment of haulers is periodically renewed rather than permanent, tracking the statutory five-year window in RCW 81.77.150.